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Kim Keon Hee
First Lady of South Korea from 2022 to 2025 From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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Kim Keon Hee (Korean: 김건희; born Kim Myeong-sin; 2 September 1972) is a South Korean businesswoman who served as the first lady of South Korea from 2022 to 2025 as the wife of President Yoon Suk Yeol. Since 2009, she has been the chief executive officer and president of the art exhibition company Covana Contents.
 | This article needs to be updated. (April 2025) |
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Born in Yangpyeong, Kim graduated from Kyonggi University in 1996. In 2012, she married Yoon Suk Yeol, the then-prosecutor in Supreme Prosecutors' Office. Since the 2022 presidential election, Kim has been the subject of several allegations of misconduct, including the falsification of academic and financial reports.[1]
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Early life and education
Kim was born Kim Myeong-sin (김명신) on 2 September 1972 in Yangpyeong, Gyeonggi Province, South Korea. In 2008, she legally changed her name to her current name.[2] Her father died when she was in middle school.[3]
She attended Myungil Girls' High School before graduating from Kyonggi University with an arts degree.[4]
Career
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In 2009, Kim established Covana Contents, a company that specializes in art exhibitions,[5] and has been serving as the chief executive officer and president since then.[5][4]
Allegations of financial misconduct
In 2019, the media reported that she had allegedly not paid taxes.[6] Kim has been investigated for allegedly taking kickbacks for hosting art exhibitions.[7]
In 2022, the opposition Democratic Party accused Kim and her family of manipulating the stock price of an auto dealership. She is also accused of allegedly breaching anti-corruption law by her acceptance of US$2,200 Dior handbag as a gift and of interference in elections.[8]
In 2023, courts found that Kim had entrusted her bank accounts to scammers who manipulated the stock price of the Deutsch Motors automotive import company.[9] Although other people who lent out their accounts in this way were convicted of aiding and abetting the scheme, Kim was cleared of allegations by her husband's justice department.[10]
On 20 March 2025, the National Assembly passed a bill to have a permanent special prosecutor investigate Kim on these cases.[11]
Academic falsification
In 2021, there were reports that Kim had inflated her résumé with connections to the New York University Stern School of Business.[12] In a press conference, she later publicly apologized and promised only "to focus on role as Yoon's spouse even if Yoon is elected."[13][14][15] Following her promise, Yoon included abolition of Office of the First Lady within the Office of the President in his campaign promise.[16]
Kim's academic writings were accused of plagiarism.[17] Rival parties in South Korea held different opinions on the issue and accused each other of being motivated by politics.[17][18][19] In August 2022, Kookmin University, where Kim obtained a PhD, said it found no misconduct. The statement sparked a strong reaction from the university community, and a panel of sixteen professors across academia released their own findings to support allegations of Kim's plagiarism during her master's study at Sookmyung Women's University and her doctoral study at Kookmin.[20][21] In December 2024, a preliminary internal review from Sookmyung Women's University concluded that she had plagiarized her 1999 master's thesis at the university. Kim was given until the end of January 2025 to dispute the decision.[22] Kim did not dispute the decision within the given window.[23] On 24 June 2025, Sookmyung Women's University announced that they would revoke Kim's degree.[24] On 21 July, Kookmin University also revoked her doctorate degree.[25]
Allegations of martial law association
After Yoon Suk Yeol was arrested on 15 January, Kim allegedly berated the Presidential Security Service for not shooting at police officers. She also supposedly expressed feelings of committing a murder-suicide against DPK leader, Lee Jae-myung.[26][27]
On 17 February, a criminal investigation into first lady Kim Keon Hee was called for alleged involvement in the 2024 martial law declaration to cover up election interference.[28]
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Personal life
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Kim's mother is Choi Eun-sun, who was tried and acquitted on charges of operating an elderly care hospital without a medical license from 2013 to 2015.[29] In July 2023, she was sentenced to one-year in prison for real estate fraud. She was paroled in May 2024.[30][31]
Kim married Yoon Suk Yeol in 2012.[2] On 10 March 2022, upon her husband's election as president-elect of South Korea, Kim stated that she preferred the term 'President's Spouse' to 'First Lady'.[4]
Kim and Yoon own six dogs and five cats. Among their pets were two Turkmen shepherd puppies gifted by Turkmenistan's President Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedow during their visit in June 2024. Initially raised at the presidential residence, the Turkmen puppies were transferred to the Seoul Grand Park Zoo in November 2024 for safety reasons due to their size and growth.[32]
On January 17, 2025, several officials at the presidential residence in Hannam-dong expressed concerns about Kim's health, describing her as "looking worryingly emaciated". These officials noted that Kim had turned "so thin that it worries [them]. She was completely skinny".[33][34] Kim was hospitalized due to her deteriorating health in June 2025, being released on 27 June 2025.[35]
Honours
Poland: Grand Cross of the Order of Merit of the Republic of Poland (13 July 2023)[36]
References
External links
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